WHILE Julia Ford may have her own real leading man – other half Mike – at home, the actress has also chalked up an enviable roster of stage husbands in her time.

“I played opposite Ralph Fiennes in Much Ado About Nothing,” she recalls of one early appearance. “And my nan, who lived in Runcorn, used to have a picture of me and Ralph getting married, because I wasn’t married in real life at the time.

“I don’t think Ralph knows that!”

Now the 45-year-old is proving the power behind the throne as one half of another Shakespearean couple – the Macbeths.

Julia stepped in at short notice after the original Lady M, Jemma Redgrave, quit the Everyman production three weeks before opening night.

So what made her say ‘yes’ when her agent rang out of the blue?

She explains: “Macbeth is just such a fantastic play. I’ve not worked with Gemma (Bodinetz ) but I’ve heard so much about her and wanted to work with her, Dave is one of my favourite people and one of my favourite actors, Liverpool is one of my favourite places, and it’s the last show at the Everyman.

“How could I possibly not have done it?!”

Now two weeks into the show’s five-week run, she appears to be relishing every minute of it.

“It doesn’t lose any of the thriller element, but it’s also rooted in a very real relationship. That was the vision she expressed to me and it was so up my street I thought – it’s even more brilliant – I want to go with that.”

The last time Julia, who is more usually drawn to contemporary writing – her last role was in Vivienne Franzmann’s Mogadishu at the Royal Exchange and Lyric Hammersmith, appeared in a Shakespearean role was Ophelia to Alan Rickman’s Hamlet at St George’s Hall.

But she admits she’d long ago dreamed of playing Lady Macbeth.

It also reunites her with a certain David Mark Morrissey.

The pair have previously worked together on TV’s Red Riding series, and also a short film, but it appears their collaboration goes back much further.

“When I started acting I worked with Dave at the RSC,” Julia reveals. “We did King John together.

“And he had a beard then as well!”

She adds: “He’s fantastic to act with because he’s 100% there, and it’s very immediate, very emotionally direct, and it’s fresh all the time.”

Surprisingly, this is the mum-of-two’s first ever appearance at the Everyman, although she recalls watching plays at the theatre in the late 70s.

The shy teenager from Sutton Weaver (“we were the Woollybacks but I really wanted to be a Scouser” she laughs) also frequented the Playhouse, where two productions made a lasting impression.

One was David Hare’s Plenty, which made her realise the power that drama can possess. The other was Willy Russell’s Educating Rita.

“I remember thinking I’d love to be Rita because I was so shy,” she says.

“It was the idea of standing on stage and being able to come back with all that witty banter.

“I used to do Educating Rita as my audition piece for drama school.”

Now here she is, more than 20 years on, back in the city to play one of the Bard’s greatest female roles.

“Liverpool was my big romantic city,” she smiles. “I still feel like that.”